The Eagles.
They're being talked about as one of the Super Bowl favourites, and I don't see it.
They are breaking in new players (and Jason Peters is extremely overrated IMO) in new positions on their OLine.
Westbrook is another year older and he really is the heart and soul of the offense.
They drafted Maclin, but I'm not sure he's a true impact player right away and he doesn't compliment Jackson well IMO.
Jim Johnson is battling cancer.
They lost their defensive, and arguable, team leader in Brian Dawkins.
They play in a very, very good division.

I do think they are a very good team and as of now Id bet on them making the playoffs, but the way they`re being hyped up makes it look like they are much better than they really are IMO.

They are breaking in new players (and Jason Peters is extremely overrated IMO) in new positions on their OLine.

Peters is better than Tra Thomas. Shawn Andrews is better than Jon Runyan. Stacy Andrews is better than Max Jean-Gilles.

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Westbrook is another year older and he really is the heart and soul of the offense.

Does that mean his talent dropped?

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They drafted Maclin, but I'm not sure he's a true impact player right away and he doesn't compliment Jackson well IMO.

Yet everyone's still riding the Giants' nuts and they're relying on rookie wideouts. Jackson, Curtis (as a #2) and Avant are still a pretty solid trio, regardless of Maclin's contributions. McNabb has proven that he doesn't need a #1 receiver to be efficient. He does need one to be Super Bowl-bound, though.

My concern with the Patriots is the loss of Vrabel. He was never an "Amazing" player, but he could play all 4 LB positions and had a knack for causing several teams issues.

I think their pass rush is going to be a bit stymied especially if Adalius Thomas doesn't stay healthy... again.

Losing Vrable does hurt, but he was very clearly regressing from a physical standpoint in his last few years. He was still a very smart player, and a big locker room presence, so his departure will be felt, but not as much as some are making it out to be IMO. The pass rush was very weak last year with him in there and Thomas hurt, so why not give the younger more athletic OLB's on the roster a shot? He will be missed at points however.

Houston Texans - Is it just me, or are the Texans everyone's sleeper pick every year? I'll admit the Texans have a lot of talent, but they're not a good team in the trenches, their QB is injury prone, and they just traded away their veteran backup who could at least keep them in games. Most of their success over the past few seasons has come over their last few games of the season, which might be why everyone ends up picking them as a sleeper team every year, I really question if they ever got into a situation where they played a high stakes game if they'd be able to come out on top, since they've never really been faced with the situation.

On this board:

Denver Broncos - Yes, the Broncos went 8-8 and almost made the playoffs last year, but the sole reason for that now plays for the Chicago Bears. Their defense was atrocious, their running game was merely average, and if you take a look at the stat sheets, you can pretty much tell whether the Broncos won or lost based on the type of game Jay Cutler had last year. Personally, I don't fault Cutler for the bad games he had, as he had to deal with the dual pressures of having a terrible defense and a minimal threat in the running game, compare his season last year to Peyton Manning's 2001 or Carson Palmer's 2007, when both dealt with similar circumstances, and you'll see that Cutler's season was quite impressive considering the circumstances. Now, they need Kyle Orton to replace Cutler, which I don't think is possible, and they need the defensive changes they've made to not hurt their performance this season, which almost never happens in a scheme transition. I could easily see this team as a 3-13 team, and I really can't see them being any better than 6-10. The West will go to the Chargers almost by default this season.

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well in the last five years they made it into the NFCC once, its not like the Browns or something that havent done anything in forever

The Panthers, Buccs and Falcons have had better years more recently, Carolina is coming off their best regular season as a franchise ever... Carolina and Atlanta are top dogs in the division and there's no real way to argue around it.

The Panthers, Buccs and Falcons have had better years more recently, Carolina is coming off their best regular season as a franchise ever... Carolina and Atlanta are top dogs in the division and there's no real way to argue around it.

im not saying they arent, but every year the NFC South is different. The team that finishes last made the playoffs for like 5 years now.

to say that the Saints havent done anything the last 5 years is just wrong

im not saying they arent, but every year the NFC South is different. The team that finishes last made the playoffs for like 5 years now.

to say that the Saints havent done anything the last 5 years is just wrong

Compared to the hype they receive every year, they might as well have done nothing. After a surprise 06 season where teams had trouble facing Bush, Colston, and Brees, the Saints have been picked as division winners and possible SB favorites every year but failed to deliver. Forget winning the division or making the SB, they haven't been close to a playoff birth since then. NFCCG to 7-9 to 8-8 (everyone talks about how easy the South's schedule was last year...the Saints couldn't crack .500 playing nearly the same schedule as the Falcons).

Now of course, every team has the right to be optimistic for the upcoming season, especially the Saints because of the changes made on the defensive side of the ball, but I think people need to wait before crowning the Saints as division champs. I, for one, would like to see how that defense plays together; new DC, players returning from injury, and new players will take some time to adjust to. Look at the opposite of that at the Carolina Panthers; the dominant regular season Panthers return 21 of 22 starters for the type of stability needed for consistent playoff births. The Falcons offense (#6 YPG #10 PPG) returns 9 of 11 of the starters from last year, with the 2 replacements being a healthy Sam Baker for the season and some guy named Tony Gonzalez. The defense is replacing 5 starters, which will be difficult, but is making improvement in the right direction.

I think people are really sleeping on the Panthers for this upcoming season.

__________________"He's the leader of the next great class of NFL players." - John Elway on Matt Ryan

Peters is better than Tra Thomas. Shawn Andrews is better than Jon Runyan. Stacy Andrews is better than Max Jean-Gilles.

Does that mean his talent dropped?

Yet everyone's still riding the Giants' nuts and they're relying on rookie wideouts. Jackson, Curtis (as a #2) and Avant are still a pretty solid trio, regardless of Maclin's contributions. McNabb has proven that he doesn't need a #1 receiver to be efficient. He does need one to be Super Bowl-bound, though.

The only statement you made that is 100% correct is that every NFC contender has questions....Eagels are not overrated......They do have very legitimate concerns that you tried to pass off as none issues. The AFC is easy to predicate......The NFC is open to whomever wants it more!

How come no one is mentioning Indianapolis with the loss of Dungy? Sure, their offense remains potent, but losing their unifying force could prove problematic. Their RB situation still appears unsettled, and is the D good enough and healthy enough to finish? The rest of the division isn't getting worse... I'll go with the Colts.

First of all bsaza I just want to say I respect your opinion, but I just thought I might give you a little rebuke. The Colts in my opinion are underrated. I do understand where you are coming from, but please hear me out.

Coaching staff lost has been replaced with upcoming coaches who have been under Dungy so not a whole lot will change.

To be completely honest with you I think our RB situation is fantastic. We have Addai who is a pretty good runner when you have a healthy line. Addai wasn't the problem it was the O-line. Addai isn't the answer though. He is valuable as a pass blocker and a receiver out of the backfield and on stretch runs. Addai doesn't hit the hole as well as other exceptional runningbacks, but I believe Donald Brown can. DB is going to get carries this year and take the load off Addai and I think he is going to be better than Addai at running the ball. Also please don't forget Mike Hart who was injured last year and who will also give some fresh legs. Our RB situation is above average AT LEAST.

The defense has a lot of potential this year. I'm excited to see what they can do. Tim Jennings won't be drawing flags every other play, and our D-line is bulked up with Ed Johnson back and Fili Moala stepping in.

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Originally Posted by killxswitch

Bill Polian is cancer wrapped in AIDS delivered in an XXL enema so please don't expect me to disagree with you.

if the Oline was the problem, u dont think it was a problem that the OL coach retired?

Well yes to an extent. I think Howard Mudd was very important, but as I said upcoming coaches are taking over roles. I am very confident in Pete Metzelaars (Howard Mudd's assistant) to keep the O-line on top of their game.

And Jeff Saturday is a huge leader and mentor to the younger lineman. So it was great to get him resigned.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by killxswitch

Bill Polian is cancer wrapped in AIDS delivered in an XXL enema so please don't expect me to disagree with you.

Ok...kinda wasn't talkin to u dude. And if you can't/shouldn't do stuff like that then what the ****'s the point of having pre-season projections? What's the point of threads like this in the first place then? It's stupid to make predictions and then never revisit them. If you were right, it's not like u win an award or anything but if you were wrong then u should feel stupid as ****.

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Ok...kinda wasn't talkin to u dude. And if you can't/shouldn't do stuff like that then what the ****'s the point of having pre-season projections? What's the point of threads like this in the first place then? It's stupid to make predictions and then never revisit them. If you were right, it's not like u win an award or anything but if you were wrong then u should feel stupid as ****.

The point is if you had been wrong about those predictions you wouldn't be bumping these threads to talk about how wrong you were. You're only bringing these threads up to go "see, look how right i was, you were all stoopidz" meanwhile I'm sure you made other predictions in other threads that were completely wrong, but you won't bother revisiting those.

The point is if you had been wrong about those predictions you wouldn't be bumping these threads to talk about how wrong you were. You're only bringing these threads up to go "see, look how right i was, you were all stoopidz" meanwhile I'm sure you made other predictions in other threads that were completely wrong, but you won't bother revisiting those.

I see what you're saying but I explained in another thread that I saw (today) a bunch of negative rep I received in the preseason for writing stuff like this and I commented on it. I'm not gonna search to see if there was anything I was wrong about or if there was any other stuff I was right about. I just think it's ****** up that you can neg repped for having an opinion. An opinion that if these people knew anything about football should know is not so laughable that it deserves to be neg repped.

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When you reach the upper level, your mind body and soul must be one.

The point is if you had been wrong about those predictions you wouldn't be bumping these threads to talk about how wrong you were. You're only bringing these threads up to go "see, look how right i was, you were all stoopidz" meanwhile I'm sure you made other predictions in other threads that were completely wrong, but you won't bother revisiting those.

This has been done for years on this board. People make predictions, in the prediction threads..go figure, and then at the end of the season, talk about their mistakes and what they got right. There's usually the annual "eat your crow" thread that is made. It is a pride thing, but than what is really the point of making a prediction thread if not to pat yourself on the back at the end...or hide your face in your hands hah?? It's not as if he is making useless threads about his predictions, just bumping an old thread...it will probably be filled with a half dozen pages after this. I always enjoy laughing at my absurd predictions early in the season, for as many as people get right, they get just as many wrong...it's how it is.

I also feel SS has a little extra incentive to bring it up, considering he was absolutely bashed for his statements earlier in the year, which turned out to be dead nuts accurate. And his statements weren't even that bold, they ranged from 10-6 being possibly considering overated to 9-7 being considered more on line...yet he was grossly insulted and "neg repped". I firmly believe everyone who neg repped him should eat crow and admit he was right...we'll see if that happens.

I'll give him his props, he was spot on with his assesment of Dallas' D...especially with the play of Spencer.

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